Cape Town – A Cape Town woman accused of snatching a three-day-old baby from Groote Schuur hospital almost 19 years ago, has pleaded not guilty to all charges against her in the Western Cape High Court.
The 50-year-old woman from Lavender Hill stood with her arms folded across her chest as the indictment was read out to her.
By order of the court, she may not be identified to protect the new identity of Zephany Nurse.
The State alleges that the woman kidnapped Zephany on April 30, 1997, from Groote Schuur hospital three days after she had been born to Celeste and Morne Nurse.
According to the indictment, she took the child to the Home Affairs department in Malmesbury on March 3, 2003, where she registered her with her a different name, falsely presented the child as her and her husband’s biological daughter, and was issued with a birth certificate.
She also allegedly gave the child’s birth date as April 30, 1997 when in fact it was April 28, 1997.
The discovery that Zephany was the kidnapped infant from Groote Schuur hospital was only made on February 25, 2015, almost eighteen years later.
The teenager’s younger biological sister had started school at the same high school as her, and classmates had remarked on their striking resemblance.
Celeste and Morne Nurse became suspicious, contacted police, and DNA tests confirmed that she was indeed their biological daughter.
Read: ‘May this give hope to others’
Also read: I knew right away it was Zephany - cop
Judge President John Hlophe is presiding over the case and started proceedings with a stern warning to a large media contingent.
He said the order to protect the identity of the accused had not been followed and that it had been brought to his attention that the accused had been harassed by the media.
“If that carries on, you will be kicked out of my court,” he said.
He then told the accused to stand so that charges against her could be read out.
To count one, a charge of kidnapping, she pleaded not guilty.
Charge two, a count of fraud for unlawfully pretending to Home Affairs officials that she was Zephany’s biological mother, she again pleaded not guilty.
But when count three was read out, in a surprise moment, she pleaded guilty. This charge relates to contravening the Children’s Act for pretending to be Zephany’s biological mother, and for deceiving the said child and the public at large that she was the biological mother.
Defence lawyer Reaz Khan then told the court that the plea of guilty to count three was not in accordance with his instructions, and he was given several minutes to consult with his client.
After a brief discussion, he told the court she had been confused and would in fact plead not guilty to all three counts against her.
He also told the court that he had a 35-page plea explanation to hand in.
Judge Hlophe chastised him for not handing a copy to State prosecutor Evadne Kortje before proceedings started, and adjourned court until after the tea break to give her time to peruse the documents.
Courtroom 2 was packed with Nurse family members, including Zephany’s biological parents.
When the accused pleaded not guilty to the charge of kidnapping, murmurs of disbelief could be heard from the public gallery.
African News Agency